i960 Color Bubble Jet
Photo Printer

Review posted 9/21/03

Canon i960 - Fast, Professional Quality Photo Printing

The Canon i960 Photo Printer is the successor to the i950
Photo Printer and is designed for today's digital photographers that need fast,
high-quality prints at home or work. The i960 features 4800 x 1200 dpi
print resolution thanks to its microscopic, 2-picoliter ink droplet size that sets new
standards for professional photo printing. The key to the printer's speed is its
3,072-nozzle printhead and USB 2.0 Hi-Speed interface that enables super-fast photo
transfers from your computer.

With direct photo printing, you can print without a computer. Simply connect any Bubble
Jet Direct or PictBridge-compatible digital camera or camcorder to the convenient
front-panel Direct Print Port, and print! You can choose standard 4" x 6" prints or
enlarge your favorite photos to either 5" x 7" or 8.5" x 11" - perfect for framing. The
included 4" x 6" photo paper tray attaches to the auto sheet feeder, so you'll always
have your choice of paper ready for printing.

The Canon i960 features extremely fast photo printing speeds of approximately 37
seconds for a 4" x 6" borderless photo and approximately 1 minute 50 seconds for an
8.5" x 11" borderless photo (using Canon Photo Paper Pro and High quality color
setting.) The i960 supports borderless photo printing in 4" x 6", 5" x 7" and letter
sizes all without the need to trim the borders or tear off perforations. Other features
include Exif Print for smart photo processing, individual ink tanks for efficiency and
Canon's advanced MicroFine Droplet Technology.

Individual Ink Tanks -- The i960 employs Canon's hallmark
Canon Think Tank System. This unique technology that Canon invented, offers users a
cost performance advantage, especially when printing photos. End-users only replace the
individual color ink tank they have depleted which helps to eliminate ink waste. In
addition, the Canon Think Tank System has an optical ink sensor that triggers an
on-screen warning so that users are alerted when the ink has run low.

Shipping with the i960 printer is the latest version of Easy PhotoPrint and Easy-
PhotoPrint Plus, a web-printing application called Easy-WebPrint, PhotoRecord,
PhotoStitch, ZoomBrowser and ImageBrowser. This version of Easy-PhotoPrint Plus has
borderless photo printing for 4"x6", 5"x7" and 8.5" x 11" paper sizes. The printer
driver features a Photo Noise Reduction function that helps reduce speckle noise
often found in blue areas such as the sky. To further enhance your photos, Canon has
developed additional software technology designed to reduce red-eye problems and smooth
out facial imperfections. Easy-PhotoPrint also includes Exif technology and is
available for Windows and Mac.

Canon i960 Features:

Prints 4x6" borderless photos in 37 seconds

Separate 4x6" paper tray attaches to the auto sheet feeder

PictBridge compatible, print without a computer from many new digital cameras
and camcorders

Mechanics & Performance

The i960 is a compact and stylish looking, gray and silver colored printer that will
easily fit into your computer workspace. Setup is straight forward and can be
accomplished by following the steps outlined on the included big page of directions.
You first install the removable print head assembly and then unwrap and install the six
ink tanks (more on this on the next page), install the software and then connect the
USB cable and turn on the printer. Windows finishes loading the drivers and within a
minute or two you're up and printing. In actual use the i960 is so quiet that you
almost don't even know that it's working.

The i960 supports both the new USB 2.0 Hi-Speed standard for Windows PCs and the slower
USB 1.1 standard which is compatible with older Windows systems and Mac OS 8.6-9.X
and OS X v 10.1 or later. This
is no parallel port connection, only USB.

Included with the i960 is this handy 4x6" paper tray that attaches
over the top of the existing sheet feeder. It doesn't block the sheet feeder so you
can have both letter size and 4x6" media in the printer at the same time. You simply
rotate the knob and the 4x6" tray is lowered into feed position. When you want to
print on letter size media rotate the knob again to raise the 4x6" paper tray.

The rear panel is easily removed if a serious paper jam is encountered. In over a year
of use I have encountered only one paper jam in my S9000 when using standard paper and
it was automatically cleared by turning the printer on and off.

PictBridge Compatibility

PictBridge compatibility means you can plug many of the latest digital cameras
directly into the front-mounted USB connector and make photo prints without the need
of a computer. Shown here we have the EOS Digital Rebel SLR
connected and ready to make prints.
You can also connect any of the Canon Bubblejet Direct compatible digital
cameras to this connector too.

After connecting your camera you will see a "SET" icon in the upper left corner of your
playback image on the camera's LCD screen. Scroll to the photo you want to print and
then press the SET button to access the PictBridge menu.

The PictBridge menu lets you select borderless, bordered, time/date stamp, # of copies, paper
size, and you can adjust the trim of the image to fit the 3:2 aspect ratio of 4x6"
print media.

1-year limited warranty with InstantExchange program; 1- year telephone support (90 day toll free from the time of first call); Subject to certain conditions and restrictions. See www.canontechsupport.com for details.